Humanity's Resolve
by Taleteller of Wilhelm
Summary: AU. Squinoa. With the innovative concepts of space travel, colonies are thrown into space, followed by every country rivaling for the monopoly. But before humanity is selfdestroyed by themselves, a powerful foe presents itself.
1. Chapter 1

Humanity's Resolve.

By Adam Tyler.

A Shephard's Saving Hand.

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Space Habitation had been discovered and made into somewhat of a business factor for the top world powers in the year 2617 A.D. Man-made constructs up to half the size of earth's total mass had been built, and sent to further inhabit the solar system, and house the ever-growing population of Earth's inhabitants. In the first year of this momentous occasion Earth's world leaders had decided to change the name following the year. SH – Space Habitation, had been officially declared, and every powerful country thus struggled to produce more than the other in an attempt to completely take control of space and it's endless expanse of opportunities.

None had really been able to stay above the others for long, and earth was almost thrown into WWIII but in 15 S.H., an unexpected and unknown enemy stepped in at the right time, or possibly the worst time for earth. They called themselves Peltzers. The smallest of this war-like race of alien species stood just over six feet tall, and the average, standing at about 6'7". They had much the same traits as humans, two arms, two legs, the same amount of appendages on each hand and foot. But they were also completely different, both bulbous eyes were as black and cold as a moonless winter night, their mouths were spider-like, with four large finger-sized tentacles, lined on the inside with sharp teeth. Their skin black as night, but mostly covered in grandiose armor that baffled scientists of the source of metallic alloys.

Three mother ships the size of one fourth of Russia's mass came undetected from an unknown location right to earth's doorstep. They took control of earth's radio waves and broadcasted around the whole earth, in a completely unknown guttural language that earth's destruction was at hand. Every Nation in the world rallied together against one cause, which was something that hadn't ever before happened since early biblical times. But earth still had a long fight ahead of them, The command ships sent from the mother ships were armored with a seemingly invincible energy field, but the newly discovered properties of plasma was earth's only chance against the ships. The plasma disrupted every possible line of energy the ships held, and forced the Peltzers out of their safe havens.

This was a new challenge, The plasma didn't effect the monsters at all, and the damaging radioactive waves of current weapons on earth were deflected by the armor, and any damage inflicted in these original fights were on the human forces, along with the bio-chemical attacks from the alien weapons. High-powered and accurate darts filled with alien parasitic germs attacked the human nervous system, and devoured the human brain within days, leaving the body completely undamaged, but completely lifeless.

Human forces hadn't anticipated anything of the sort, and had, at first, guessed the alien weapons ineffective. But when comrades suddenly fell unconscious for no apparent reason, the cause was soon found, and every soldier that fought against the initial invasion, was doomed to die within days. Common knives were used in dangerous close combat. The long skinny limbs of the alien Peltzers held the strength of numerous strong men. They could easily punch strait through human bodies, and it didn't take long for them to bash through hardened reinforced steel. Their blood was also acidic and ate through the steel of any blade that came into contact, and also ate through human skin even faster. The first month of combat had human forces reduced considerably, more than sixty-five thousand men died in the first two weeks, and with reinforcements and considerably more vicious attacks, the death toll of human fighters were increased two-fold. The aliens only had casualties in the hundreds because of brave human fighters that got lucky in close quarters, but sadly, they died anyway.

One scientist had the idea of maybe reverting back to archaic bullets and gunpowder. Finally Humans could effectively fight back. Armor piercing rounds were the only form of attack that could cut through the metallic armor Peltzers wore. After some study of one of the bodies it was found that their brain was securely placed in the right chest cavity in the middle of thick bone that took a strong man an hour to cut through with a high powered cement saw. But one baffling fact about these overly formidable foes was that their black flesh was as soft or softer than human skin.

Guns were immediately pushed back to the production line, bullets and gunpowder were quickly made and brought back into circulation, and men were trained as fast as possible to be accurate with the faster speed of a bullet; plasma blasts and lasers didn't have to be accurate, just as close as possible. Frag Grenades were also found to be an effective weapon, for the aliens were only heavily armored on the front, and the back had exposed soft flesh, and little bone structure, it was actually believed that the aliens breathed from larger pores in their backs, and it was possibly the reason why they weren't armored. With a strong hit, a marine could punch through the back flesh; holding a grenade of course, and leave it to explode inside the body sending shrapnel into the heart and vital organs, and even possibly breaking through a weak spot of the armored brain, and killing the beast instantly.

The battle wore on for almost two years, billions of humans lost their lives, driving the military into guerrilla warfare, setting mines and anything that would explode, just under the ground, and making use of underground settlements. Close to two billion Peltzer deaths were counted by human means in those two years, but the aliens always carried their dead away from a battle scene, making it hard to count, but after two years the fighting wasn't as regular and continuous as when they had first arrived, and the regular fist - the name that humans had given to their squadrons – went from fifty down to only twenty, and one fist leader instead of two.

As for the battle fleets in space, they had met victory after victory, earth's fighter pilots and commanders made brilliant decisions and battle tactics, and were also well equipped against the alien space pods with the plasma blasts that completely disabled and incapacitated the space pods. Now that the three mother ships were depleted of supplies and manpower, earth's forces were coming in for the finishing touches. Marines with one on one fighting experience with the Peltzer's, were being flown up to spacecrafts, and commanders and generals were contemplating on what way to breach, attack, and finally destroy the three mother ships. And with battle crafts reaching nearly one thousand in number, and fighter crafts in the ten thousands, the only problem was finding manpower to control and fly everything.

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"Bing! Commander Laguna Loire, please report to flight deck. Commander Laguna Loire, please report to flight deck" The loud speaker in the military style room suddenly fell silent, leaving a half-dressed man staring at the box with piercing gray eyes, and a slight sneer appearing on his thin lips. His black hair was cleanly cut, but a little longer than military protocol demanded. The features of his face hardened to show a strong jawline when he stared at himself in the plainly small mirror. "I know, I know! Leave me alone already." His cutting voice filled the room, before he pulled his fitted uniform top over his head. Two badges shined in the manufactured light of the room, showing for his heroic deeds while he was fighting on earth, but the dull black of the badge showing his rank and name seemed to stick out more.

He walked quickly, but managed to look like he was not in a hurry as he hurried along the white corridor. The ship irritated him, the heaviness of the magnets in his boots, the peculiar smell of recycled oxygen, and the plain white of everything on the ship just bored him to death. He longed for earth once more, the air was polluted but at least it was real, and the surroundings were always full of surprises, or at least that was what he remembered while being an Ensign, just drafted, eager to get his first kill of an infamous Peltzer beast. Everything was full of excitement the rush of close combat, and the thrill of blowing round after round into it's body until it finally toppled over, and he always remembered fondly the rush of planting a frag grenade inside its body. Always fearing that it wouldn't turn around and bash his face in, and how well timed it had to be, otherwise he be killed in the process by a stray piece of shrapnel, always wondering if his hand was going to come out rotting away from the acidic blood of those beasts.

He now controlled platoons, sent countless young boys to their deaths, and barely remembered how thrilling it was to hope the charging beast would stop and crumble before it finally reached him. The transport train flew up to the scheduled stop with amazing speed. One transport traveled around the ten mile radius of the Mercury space station, stopped at one hundred and fifty seven stops in thirty minutes countless times every day. He calmly stepped onto the transport, and firmly grasped the over head strap, and suddenly felt the rush of zero to two hundred km in three seconds. A young Ensign behind him gasped and almost lost his footing from the sudden force, but quickly composed himself, he was in the presence of Commander Loire. Laguna rolled his eyes in contempt of the thought, he had just done what anyone else would have, and had a longer run of luck than most, but the stories he had heard about himself made him seem like an invincible giant that could single handedly take out a fist of peltzers with one clip of ammunition. "_pshh, if only that were the truth."_ He thought incredulously.

Laguna suddenly gave an involuntary jump, his pocket communicator buzzing to life. He quickly slipped it from his pouch, and turned on the screen to see a large smile on his wife's face. "Raine? Why are you calling me at a time like this?" He asked her in an accusing tone.

"Oh Laguna, don't be so sour." Her melodious voice responded, and their 1 year old son could be heard playing in the background. "We just wanted to wish you luck. This is a dangerous mission from what I've heard." Raine gave a dazzling smile, and waited for her husband's reply.

"Thank you dear, but I have to get going. I'll call you as soon as I can after everything is over." He smiled quickly and the screen was engulfed with black.

Raine fell back in her seat, she hadn't had time to see Laguna much since he was restationed in space. Something kept yelling in her conscience that everything was not all right. She turned to her 1 year old son, Squall, he stared back with his innocent bright blue eyes, and gave a contented smile, then went back to his toy spaceship. Raine turned from her son, overwhelmed by sudden fear. She sniffed, one lone tear dropping from the long lashes surrounding her eyes. "_He'll be alright...I know it, I just know it..."_

Laguna stepped off the transport at just the right time, the capsule suddenly lurching forward throwing up a strong but quick bit of wind; an entrance that his men would have expected. Thirty men instantly stood to attention, not one quivering, not one blinking, but silently waiting for their beloved commander to utter his first command.

"Seagill! Are we ready?" Laguna barked, his second; and closest friend that he had, saluted, and confirmed that the preparations were in order. "Men! You've followed me through many battles, we've moved past friendship, we've become brothers. Today will be the turning point of this long war, today will change the history of humankind. I want no set backs, every one of us will be performing at our best, and the Peltzer's will finally be wiped from the face of the earth." Laguna paused, sending his piercing gaze into the eyes of every marine in his platoon. "Now what are we waiting for!" it was more of an exclamation than a question, and every soldier replied with a cheering war cry.

The transport fighter ship was ready and waiting only for Laguna to give the go ahead, and everyone felt the sense of duty that was thrown on their shoulders, as the thrusters fired to life, and the 6 ton hulk of machinery blasted into motion. The hangar doors slid open with a ominous creaking and the loud engines suddenly became a dull hum as the endlessness of space ate the sound waves sent out.

Laguna nervously flicked at the safety trigger of his M-87 military issue assault rifle, unthinkingly filling the ammunition pouches in his uniform with multiple clips. Kiros Seagill, his second, sat next to him acting much the same way. "Are you nervous?" He asked, becoming aware that he was being watched.

"Always, but after doing this for so long, I act on instinct." Laguna replied, leaving the conversation at an awkward end.

"Laguna...if I die today...take care of my son will ya?" He whispered softly, avoiding lowering the morale at all costs.

Kiros was most likely the only person on the transport ship that could have addressed Laguna that way without receiving the lashing side of his tongue. "I will...will you do the same for me?" The question left Kiros dumbfounded, the thought that his indestructible leader falling victim to a Peltzer was almost unthinkable.

"You have my word commander." He gave an uneasy smile, and the silence of the ship was suddenly broken by a shriek from a soldier sitting close to the window.

The inside of the craft was filled with a brilliant blinding light, that temporarily blinded every man in the craft. After an eternity of pandemonium; which in reality was only a few moments, the crew finally rubbed the spots out of their eyes. "What was that!?" Lieutenant Seagill blurted after finally gaining his sight back.

"S-sir...I don't think you want that answered..." A shaky Ensign proclaimed, from the window.

"Pshhhk, The Mercury has been hit with that massive energy blast, there is no response from Admiral Gears, or from the command deck. Commander Loire, abort the mission?" The pilot's voice cracked over the loud speaker, and Kyle scrambled for words, his heart pounded harder than he had ever remembered, the whole mission was completely blown apart from that one lash of retaliation. His mouth involuntarily moved up and down, but words would not come from his mouth.

"Sir! The Mercury's gonna blow!" The same Ensign yelled from the window. The transport ship spun broadside, the scene of horror filling the eyes of every man on that ship. The Central command station in the middle of the ship was completely nonexistent, and the thermal projectors were breached sending searing flames through every corridor in the battleship. Laguna couldn't even begin to imagine the cries of the dying soldiers, all seasoned fighters, all killed in one act by the Peltzers.

"That's a negative Corporal! We're flying strait into the mother ship, and giving back tenfold! We're destroying that ship, or we're gonna die trying!" Laguna whipped the communicator back at the wall, and flicked the safety of his M-87 off. "Men, no one from the mercury is probably going to live after today; including us, but we're gonna show what humans are made of." He flipped the face plate of his helmet down, and turned to the lone window.

The immense size of the mother ship loomed over the shuttle, completely engulfing it in shadow, and suddenly the defenses of the ship start pouring plasma beams in every direction. "Pshhhk, hold on, things are gonna get rough." The ship lurched forward and downward, and suddenly spun several times over that few minutes, the skill of the pilot was impeccable, the hangar could be seen with Peltzer's scrambling for their fighters.

The wing was suddenly tore off, sending the ship spinning out of control, but still on course to collide with the ship. Every man gritted his teeth, and firmly gripped their weapons, and each was thankful for the invention of magneted boots.

The roof suddenly crumpled in, the shrieking sound of twisting metal pierced every ear, and the explosion of the thick glass of the window impaled several marines that were standing close to it, instantly killing them. The transport door was lodged and wouldn't open, even with manual override. Laguna tried sending a message to the pilots, but the only response was an ominous silence. Laguna finally pushed through his squad to the shattered window, and pulled two frag grenades from his belt. He pulled the clip and threw the first one through the opening, and waited. Four seconds later he released the other one, and immediately feeling the impact of the first on the ship, and the fatal screeches of lurking Peltzer's.

The second sounded and Laguna dove into the opening, followed by every live marine still in the shuttle. There was an immediate attack by what was completely unexpected; human weapons were being turned on them. One marine fell before Laguna could give an order, and another right beside him. "Take cover! Hold your ground!" His voice rang loud and clear over the speakers inside every helmet.

A smoke grenade was thrown at possibly the best time. Laguna flipped the thermal vision of his face plate on and picked off one Peltzer after another. Bullets rang off of the walls, but they were blind, and very inaccurate shots. A guttural cry sounded beside him, and Laguna let his legs fall limp, falling right under the swing that would have ended his life. He rolled around the hulking beast, and sprayed countless bullets into it's soft back. With a sickening whimper the beast fell, it's blood eating through the floor of the hallway.

Two more sounds raged behind him, as he looked up to see the head of a promising young marine being maliciously torn from his body, and thrown at the wall. He didn't have any more time to waste fretting about the young man, for he barely missed the same fate. He landed on his back, spraying bullets into the lightly armored under carriage of the first Peltzer. The second had stayed at a safe enough distance, pouring bullets in his general direction. Laguna rolled to a nearby chunk of debris, and waited for the alien.

It's head was shot off by the high firing rate of the M-87, yet it's body was still moving. Laguna pulled two more grenades from his belt, and with his full force plunged the first into the back of the dying Peltzer. Behind him another gun roared to life, and Laguna twisted around the body of his current victim. He was scrambling for what procedure to follow, the grenade was going to blow any second, and the bullets were just as lethal. A strong hand suddenly gripped his arm, and the headless Peltzer flung him toward the attacking one. Laguna was ten feet away before the grenade acted, splattering acidic flesh in every direction; Laguna could hear the screams of both human and Peltzer alike, as death took most.

Laguna landed roughly, yet rolling forward to keep his wits, and his balance. But there was no need. He stood in the middle of a gruesome battle scene. Black blood burned through walls, floors, bodies, with red blood mixed into the scene. Missing limbs scattered the area, and Laguna Loire stood alive; and barely scathed in the middle of it all, wondering if he was the only survivor.

A scuffle sounded behind Laguna, and he turned, rapidly bringing his sights into focus. He stared at the bloodied face of Lieutenant Seagill, returning the same gesture. "Glad to see a familiar face Commander." His lips curled grimly, and he cautiously spun in a slow circle.

"Let's see if any other's survived." Laguna muttered sourly. Three more marines were found in much the same way, completely lost, and hoping they weren't the only human left of the Mercury.

Laguna stood before four men, Lieutenant Seagill, and corporal's Kreece, Dias, and Zabac. Each had battle scars to show for the fighting, and they were the only survivors left to be found. Laguna grimly motioned for a tight defensive line, and pushed onward into the mother ship; they were here for a reason after all.

The rest of the ship was unprotected for the most part, it was unnerving really, the feeling that Peltzer's would jump out of nowhere and attack from behind. "Wait! Commander, look here!" Corporal Kreece pointed at a nearby room, which was projecting an ominous green hue from it's depths. The five soldiers entered silently, not breaking their defensive line, and stared in awe, and disgust. The height of the room was endless, and rows of ten body capsules rose from the floor until the human eye couldn't possibly see farther up. "They're creating their own fighters, and bringing their dead to life." Seagill gasped.

"Not if I can help it." Laguna exclaimed in disgust, and with his squad they reached the center of the room. The buttons were written in Peltzeri symbols, and Laguna couldn't determine which process canceled the current action. "Stand back!" He firmly planted his feet, and fired his weapon, completely blowing apart the whole control panel.

The lights immediately dimmed, and the water jets inside the capsules instantly stopped; the water turning from a luminous green, to a dull blue color. "I think...that did it..." Corporal Kreece exclaimed, admiring the shambled mess of the control panel; He majored in the technical field of the military.

"I feel...like something is watching us..." Seagill commented. He flicked the heat censors on in his face plate, and moved his gun with every twist of his body. "Commander! Peltzer's in the overhead." His voice was lost in gunfire.

Laguna reacted instantly, retreating back to the shadows, and picking off one after another. His adrenaline surged, driving him to move faster and faster, the weak spot came into his sights time and time again, short bursts roared from the barrel, and just as sudden as the struggle had started every enemy disappeared.

Smoke drifted up from the heated metal of his gun, and the sound of Peltzer blood eating through the metal could be heard in the following silence. "Set a perimeter of the room! Man the doors!" Laguna ordered, standing cautiously.

"Commander, we have a man down..." Corporal Dias looked up from Kreece's body; the man shaking involuntarily.

"How bad is he?" Laguna cursed under his breath, Kreece was the last of the squad that had any experience with technical engineering, and there would probably be more occasions for his expertise.

"...He's gone..." Kreece's head rolled to the side, his lifeless green eyes boring into Laguna's, leaving him feeling as if he was the reason of the man's death; and by military standards, he was.

Laguna pushed the accusations aside, and stared at the remaining three men; they were the last four of the Mercury, they had a mission. "Let's move." Laguna whispered definitively. They once more formed a line, and traveled silently through the over sized corridors. Several more rooms with much the same contents as the first were found, in which case, they prepared for ambush, and destroyed the control panel.

"Sir! Hold back, check this out." Zabac called, motioning for the squad to follow. Half assembled human-looking constructs were found in the large room, an assembly line held torso's with machines fusing mechanical arms and heads onto the bodies. At the end of the assembly line the torso's were connected to a lower half, and plunged into a vat of what looked like off-white milk. They resurfaced and were completely coated with a replica of human skin. "This...is amazing." Zabac exclaimed in wonder, and each man silently agreed.

"Let's move, we can't do anything here." Laguna ordered, after checking for some kind of panel that could have shut the system down, but there was not one to be found. The lights suddenly switched off, devouring the light of the corridor, and leaving the marines bemused, and scrambling for the night-vision setting of their face plates.

"Dias! Zabac! Cover the flanks, Seagill, your with me." Laguna ordered, his gun suddenly the only light source in the surrounding area. Peltzer cries could be heard from every direction, bullets whipping past the heads of the crouching marines, who returned just as much fire.

Time slowed for Corporal Josh Dias, The hissing sound of the bullet, the impact, and finally the pain, feverishly sending his whits scattering. He swayed for a moment, his body registering his plunge into the wall, and all too soon the firefight pounded into his eardrums like a brick connecting with his skull thrown from a hundred feet in the air. His breathing came with great difficulty, he could feel his punctured lung fill with warm blood.

"Man down! Man down!" The words of his Commander brought relief into his thoughts, he stared into Commander Loire's eyes, and felt a surge of strength. "Answer me Corporal! Pull yourself together, your gonna live!" Dias knew the words were a lie, he himself had repeated them far too many times, he was dying and he felt his body shutting down.

"Sir! Move on, I'll take care here, blow this ship to pieces." Dias opened his eyes wider, and gripped Commander Laguna's arm for the last time, and with renewed vigor pushed himself to stand.

Diaz's words were lost to the remaining three marines, as they hurried down a cleared path. Diaz's gun fired repeatedly, until finally the final click of his gun sounded, seemingly louder than the gunfire itself. His bravery would not die here.

The lock of the door activated, and the marines found themselves in a dimly lit room. "Holy--" Laguna turned to see mountains of metal boxes, the nearby opened crates were filled with guns and ammunition. Laguna remembered that his rounds were low, and threw his M-87 sending it skidding across the slick floor of the room that was big enough to be a shuttle hangar. He pulled his last grenade from his belt, and held it in his hand ready for use if needed. He dug a completed firearm from the nearest crate, loaded it, and filled his ammunition pockets with as many clips as possible. The Peltzers were ready for an entire invasion once more, with better means of wiping humans from earth. "_Not if I can help it!" _Laguna thought furiously, and slightly jumped as the locked door behind them was endlessly beaten at by attacking Peltzer's.

One crate caught Laguna's eye, it was filled with almost exact replicas of human frag grenades. He grabbed one just as a large hole was created in the locked doors. Laguna popped the clip, and with and extreme streak of luck, the grenade flew through the hole, causing shrieks from the other side. The explosion sounded, and the area was eerily quiet. "Replace your firearms, and get as many clips as your belt can hold." Laguna hefted another grenade from the crate, and fastened it to his belt.

The three pushed on, hugging the shadows whenever possible, and instantly reacting to any noise that found it's way to the hightened senses of the marines. Finally a brightly illuminated room loomed at the end of a hallway. The three slowly paced toward the end, and came upon a dazzling sight. The energy core of the ship was amazing. Crackling electricity, and plasma reserves were held in millions of tanks surrounding the whole room.

A pillar traveled through the middle of the floor, and the energy reading in the face plates were indicating that the most amount of energy was being pumped up that pillar. Laguna's eyes followed the pillar to it's peak, and what he could only guess was the main control deck of the ship. He quickly flicked through the ship's diagram, and with a firm resolve, determined that he was correct.

With a quick motion of his hand, he beckoned the other two to follow him to the middle of the room. As expected there was an elevator etched into the side of the pillar, and traveled rapidly from the floor by means of plasma energy.

Corporal Zabac stood silently between his officers, towering nearly a foot about the other two, the deaths of his friends flipping through his thought pattern like an album. The elevator shot from the floor, desperately, yet ineffectively trying to peel his skin from his face. The elevator slowed as it reached the peak if the pillar, and he readied for the illusioned fist of Peltzers that his mind tricked him into thinking were at the top, and desperately anticipating that his life was going to die just as brutally as his friends had met their fates.

His back suddenly burned, and he could feel the microscopic lifeforms crawling through his bloodstream like a messaging sensation, making his mind rush in a frantic pandemonium. Gunfire roared as he turned his head to see a Peltzer in a levitating body suit, being shot apart by his superior officers.

The elevator stopped at it's scheduled peak, showing countless Peltzer's just starting to fire their weapons. Zabac rushed forward, not heeding the warning calls offered by his superiors, he could feel bullet after bullet sear through his flesh, he coughed, blood splattering across the inside of his faceplate, yet still he rushed ever farther. Zabac's firearm crashed to the ground, his bloodied hand grasping desperately at the trigger. His exposed heart pumping rich red blood from his corpse, with his last bit of strength he yanked the clip from his grenade, and finally stared lifelessly at the ball counting the second till it inflicted endless pain on any lifeforms within range, His skin soaking in the still warm blood that had moments previous pumped through vigorously living veins.

Laguna fired endlessly, barely straying from the little cover he received from the crate he was kneeling behind. He was well aware that only he and Kiros were left, the last holders of the courageous stories of the brave marines of the Mercury. A tear rolled down his cheek, why hadn't he told his wife he loved her one last time, why hadn't he taken that extra moment to kiss his son on the forehead that final time before he flew off to be a hero in the space crusades, He had taken so much for granted, his pride overpowering all else, when it came right down to it.

He finally fired the last round of the clip, the last body of a Peltzer finally falling to be devoured by the endless appetite of it's blood. Reality finally set in, his leg strongly protesting against any form of movement, and his stomach changing his uniform from dull gray to dark red. Seagill laid wheezing on his back, gasping for one more breath of air, his mind only focusing on that one more breath. "Your not dying on me now, Kiros." Laguna exclaimed, pulling a plastic breathing contractor from his belt, and fastened it around Kiros' mouth and nose.

Laguna dragged his only true friend to his feet, and together they entered the unmanned control deck, it's many panels bleeping, crying out for recognition. The flight controls were a plasma chamber that bore into the mind of the life form.

Laguna limped to the chamber, falling laboriously into the pilot's seat, and suddenly the plasma brightened and illuminated through his eyes, his pores, ears, mouth, any opening that his body held, and immediately fought for control of his complete nervous system, Laguna pulled the thought pattern of his mind to the direction of the mammoth ship he was now fighting to control. He fought back the urges that seemed to be the spirit of the ship desperately battling for control, and suddenly his every movement was the movement of the ship, He could feel every nerve bristling to life, every sense was heightened tenfold, his sight gazed into the endless abyss of space, and he immediately sent the whole ship into lock down, sirens blowing, and every door securely locking, every transport suddenly becoming inactive. He smiled, and turned the thrusters bringing the head of the ship on a collision path with the largest of the three that had tyrannized earth for far too long.

"Battle cruiser leaders Alpha and Delta, focus on the mother ship, I think the mission was successful. Craig Grimson, the flight commander of both named divisions rolled his fighter, passing harmlessly under two high energy plasma beams. The smallest mother ship was slowly turning from it's flight pattern, it's main engines firing to life, and on a crash course with the largest of the three. Cheers from every fighter rang through the speaker. The mission everyone thought ended with the Mercury, was jumping to life before their very eyes.

"Admiral! That mother ship just fell out of orbit...it's flying strait towards the largest of the three!" Admiral Dalphine, smiled genuinely, something he hadn't been driven to do since his childhood, He was watching the newest goal of his long history in the military come to life before his very eyes. His hopes had sunk after watching the utter destruction of the Mercury, and his silent, solemn face, twitched to life, the struggle was almost over.

Every human within the solar system held on one breath, earth dwellers, and space dwellers together stared unblinkingly at their vid-screens, vigorously longing that not one last thing went wrong.

Both ships finally connected, The armored walls of each ship rippling from impact, the entire solar system seemed caught on that moment, the absolute turning point of the fierce struggle for survival. Mrs. Raine Loire stood in her home, located in an underground base, not yet breeched by Peltzer forces. Tears welling up in her eyes, she silently knew that her Laguna wasn't coming home, his once soft face hardened by years of brutal loss. She knew that never again would she feel his arms around her, never again...

"Mama...mama...dudhhheee...dahdhhheee..." Even her one year old infant could grasp at least that his daddy held the attention of billions of humans, and countless Peltzer's alike. She couldn't utter a word of comfort for her child. The vidphone rang and rang, Laguna's mother's voice filled the apartment calling for Raine, but she wouldn't be torn away from the vid-screen.

Laguna Loire's head was an explosion of pain, his life was connected to the ship at the moment. His teeth cracked, and crunched apart from the force of his clenched jaw, his muscles bulged painfully, and his wounds were burning with strains of pain tearing at the severed nerves. A strong hand grasped his shoulder, and suddenly he was staring into the face of lieutenant Kiros Seagill.

The central pillar shattered along with the millions of energy tanks. The floor crumbled apart, exposing several floors under that room. Laguna and Kiros both plunged to their deaths from the control deck. The undamaged floor coming closer and closer with every passing second, and suddenly they were suspended in midair several hundred feet from the floor that they would have most certainly died upon from gravitational impact. The gravity core of the ship was damaged and after a struggle with coding and the powerful system, had lost all power.

Both men were still in motion from the force of their fall, but they only connected numbingly with the floor. Shaking the dizziness from his head Laguna found himself floating in a fighter ship hangar. Few vessels were still left but there was a transport ship damaged, yet flyable. Seagill floated unconscious beside him, his arms twitching irregularly.

Laguna grabbed the man's arm, and with a great thrust from the large chunk of debris near his feet, they were both propelled toward the shuttle. They connected with the rear of the vessel, and with great effort Laguna pulled both himself, and his comrade around to the open door on the side of the shuttle. Bullets whizzed and clanked against the metal hull of the ship. Laguna felt an impact from somewhere, but not himself. He looked down to see blood flowing from Kiros' chest, his now open eyes desperately staring at Laguna for help; any help that could be offered.

Laguna pulled them both inside the ship, and rushed to the flight panel and punched in the right code for autopilot, or at least he hoped, the symbols were covered in Peltzeri symbols, and he couldn't decipher them. The bullets continued clanging against the hull, and Laguna rushed to the still open doorway, making sure Kiros was completely inside the ship.

An explosion from inside the mother ship impacted the hangar floor, and Laguna found himself floating outside of the shuttle door. The door hissed shut in front of him, his gun was still inside the ship, and there was a fist of Peltzer's shooting wildly at him. The engines of the shuttle ignited, and the ship lifted off, penetrating the plasma field keeping the breathless air of space outside the hangar.

A sudden feeling of doom filled his stomach, along with a blindly shot bullet, others connected, but he barely knew what was going on around him. The hangar floor suddenly twisted apart, and a bright energy source could be seen through the opening. Another bullet entered his body, sending him flying back to bounce off another piece of debris.

Feverish pain threatened to grasp his wits, and suck the life from his body. His head suddenly spinning into a pandemonium playground, breaking the focus that was militarily drilled into his head more than a decade previous to this moment. He floated back from the tile of the hangar floor; he had missed the gaping hole in the middle of the room, but he could still reach it.

Painful sensations raced up the length of his arm, draining the strength of the limb. Laguna's scream was lost at that moment. The wall separating the endless blackness of space suddenly cracked, sucking oxygen from the room, and Laguna knew it was either now or never. Forcing his damaged limbs to move was the greatest endeavor he had ever made in his life, he knew that he was going to die, and there was nothing he could do about it.

The momentum he had created throwing himself at the energy source, was a success at least, but he had to be quick, the cracked hangar wall would only stand under pressure for so long.

He removed two frag grenades from his belt, and hesitantly removed the clips from each one. "_For my family...and humanity."_ Laguna entered the plasma field of the core reactor. His agonizing screams weren't heard by any human, but that day, Commander Laguna Loire became history.

The core reactor was disrupted so much by the explosions of the two frag grenades, that it instantly became the largest bomb that any human had ever witnessed. Both damaged mother ships were completely destroyed, the third took so much damage that it's core reactor chemically reacted, and it ended up destroying itself. All surrounding human ships were shut down from the discharge of so much energy, Human fighters and the remaining human space stations were evacuated by rescue teams that weren't directly fighting at the time, and one name was on everyone's mind – Laguna Loire.

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"Mrs. Loire," Dr. Hartmann entered the room she had been waiting in. She had been having unexpected dizzy spells lately, and didn't know if it was from the mental breakdown from Laguna's death, or if it was from something else. The doctor smiled, and held the moment out a little longer than was called for, "You are pregnant, Mrs. Loire! Congratulations." He exclaimed, leaving her in even more shock, and the worse part, was that her second child would never be able to know it's father.

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It's been awhile since I've posted anything on the internet, but I hope everyone enjoys my writing. I have a second chapter half finished, and I hope to post it within a week.

Thanks for reading, and please leave a comment, and constructive criticism is always welcome.


	2. Extrication from Adolescence

Humanity's Resolve

Brought to you by the Taleteller of Wilhelm.

Extrication from Adolescence.

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"Mommy! I think the sky go boom tonight!" An almost three year old Squall Loire vigorously motioned toward the window with a chubby finger, his bright blue eyes illuminating with childish fear.

"Squall," Raine chuckled softly, "Daddy's watching over you, I don't think there's anything to worry about." If only she could back that with truth, she could at least set her battered soul to rest. Her sleepless nights of horrific nightmares of her beloved Laguna giving his very last to the Peltzeri monster's, and the ever-present life that filled her womb; Her two sons would never have the chance to truly know there father, yet only hear, and read of his bravery.

"Raine! Squall!" The familiar buzzing sound of a motorized wheelchair echoed through the sickeningly white hallways. Soon following the cheerful face of the family friend; Kiros Seagill. His wounds from the events of almost nine months before had seen the end of his military career, yet he still had a promise to keep, and he was fulfilling that to the best of his abilities. "Big storm on the way, I've turned the generators on, so we shouldn't lose power if it gets too bad." At that moment the sky roared, the pitch black sky suddenly illuminated, and for an instant it tricked the eye into believing that daylight was upon them.

"Kiros! I'm scared!" Squall, and Kiros' adopted son Zell both shrieked in unison, and scurried to the overwhelming comfort of the dark-skinned man.

"Now now boys, there's nothing to be afraid of." He cooed in a gentle voice, running his fingers through both heads of hair. The sky raged once more. The multiple streaks of lightning tearing apart the sky, one touching the ground not even one hundred yards from the house, sending blinding ripples if light arching in every direction. There was an involuntary shriek from everyone in the room, and suddenly the lights started flickering. That wasn't the most exciting thing to happen that night...by far. "Boys, I think it's past your bedtime." Kiros proclaimed in a sing-song voice, and before long he was escorting them to the room they both shared.

Raine took a nearby seat, smiling at the site of the young boys scampering away from the closest thing to a father figure they had. She was glad for his hospitality in the state she was in, openly accepting her and Squall into his house, and treating them as if they were his own flesh and blood. Raine smiled, rubbing her stomach affectionately, as she happily thought of her unborn baby boy, and how great of an older brother Squall would make, and all too soon Squall's face turned into Laguna's, and her heart lurched, her eyes changing from pooled tears of joy to grief, she would never have another baby with Laguna...she would never have another baby, ever. Her eyes welled with bigger tears, and it seemed as if the sky was sharing her agony, as the floodgates of heaven itself opened upon their house, the oversized drops of water ineffectively boring into the warm depths of the humble home.

She suddenly gasped in horror, raging pain surged from her undercarriage, along with a mixture of water and blood. An excited gasp sounded from the doorway, Kiros knew as well as her that the birth of her second child was going to be this night. "Deep even breaths Raine! I'll call the hospital." His military drilled smoothness through excitement seemed to calm her wits. He tried to activate the vidphone several times, but the signal was blocked for some reason. The storm raged, it's intensity increasing with each passing second, the rain pounding harder with every labored heartbeat that beat in Raine's chest.

"Kiros! He's coming!" She screamed loudly, and for the first time in Kiros' life, he was left completely clueless. He had never witnessed a birth, he had never wanted to, yet his neverending friendship to Laguna called for his loyalty once more. Thunder sounded louder and faster, the storm, he knew, was hovering right over them.

Kiros quickly propped Raine's legs up on two different chairs, and with great reluctancy lifted Raine's dress, and suddenly, in one ear-pounding act, thunder roared, Raine shrieked, and blood exploded from between her legs. Raine knew something was wrong, it was too hard for her to breath, and she could see that she was losing far too much blood. "Raine! Push! Push!" Kiros' steady voice was lost to a roar of thunder, lightning followed through by touching the ground only inches from the walls of the house. "Push! The worst is almost over!" Kiros urged her, grasping her stone cold hand for some form of encouragement.

Raine screamed, she shrieked, and pushed with all her might. Still she couldn't hear that cry of life, and she clenched her teeth once again, pushing with what strength was left from her fatigued abdomen. Still no cry, her tears ran down her face, her last part of Laguna; other than Squall was going to meet the same fate of his father. Once more Kiros urged her for one more push. "I can't!" She muttered through clenched teeth, her torn body was shutting down, she had lost too much blood, and she had almost given up hope for the life of her second child.

"Your almost there! He's almost out!" The head was protruding out, but the face was not yet visible. "Push one more time Raine!" He knew that if only she could hear the cry of her newborn, she could complete the birth. Thunder roared louder than ever, it's peak at the extremity of the storm, would have had anyone wondering if the storm wasn't caused by some power other than natural occurrence. Raine gritted her teeth, her abdomen contracting with all the strength that a desperate mother could conjure, and finally, the weak cry of her baby boy sounded; what a delightful sound after such agony. Kiros urged her once more, she was only half done with the whole business, and her baby could still die.

Even in such chaos, three year old Squall, and his four year old companion could still watch with a calmness very uncommon to toddlers of their age. They both watched the whole scene with serene quietness, yet with intensely raging fear, quietly shivering at every sound of thunder, and sniffling back tears at every painful shriek that exuded from Raine. "_Why does mommy look so sad?"_ Squall wondered, his innocent mind not understanding the reason for his mother's cries.

The baby was almost completely out, but was giving weak cries, and Raine wheezing with alarming weakness, both were foreboding signs of failure in Kiros' mind. "Raine! You can't give up, you have two wonderfully handsome boys that need your motherly sensitivity!" Her wheezing slowed, her eyes moved slowly to stare at his, and he could instantly see her agony, burning at her conscious state, rapidly fighting to claim her.

"Mommy!" Squall ran from his shelter, his tears falling for no childish reason. He didn't want to be too late for his mother.

"Squall, you be good, take care of your brother...I..love.." Her head rolled to the side, her last breath wasted away with the unfinished sentence, that would be the worst torment of her sons' conscience forever. Her eyes turned from squall to rest on Kiros in a last desperate reminder of his promise to the Loire family. Suddenly the sky roared to life in the most dazzling display of a lightning storm, it had claimed it's victim, but it's hunger still yearned for more. Kiros had fresh tears rolling down his face, tears that had not shed for even his best of friends, his promise was shattering to pieces in a triumphant display that he was not in control of his own life. The beautiful creation of God weakly twitched in his bloodied hands, a sheer twist of evil had the infants eyes staring lifeless at him, accusingly holding empty grudges that tore his heart from his chest.

"Mommy!" Squall's frantic screams for his mother had been ringing, involuntarily unnoticed through his senses, and only now did he realize. The lifeless infant rolled from his shaky hands, that seemed lined with rigamortis. The pounding thump of the beautifully ruined infant reaching the floor, sent his head pounding with migraine, his very skull shattering apart with such agony. He finally stood, hands outstretched to the sky, which seemed to be conjured to his very spot. Lights shattered, windows shattered, the roof of the house shattered, and finally the tormented soul of Kiros Seagill laid to rest in a shattered hulk of lifelessness. That same spot was unrelentingly attacked over and over by streaks of lightning, until the house was such a raging mess of fire, blood, and screaming, that only your worst nightmares could try to come close to such work of evil.

Both Squall and Zell were unmoving, both helplessly sobbing for their respective parental figure, and yet the storm raged on, striking one last blow to the broken home. Faster than the eye could follow, the final act of violence that the storm could muster sent one last streak of lightning right into the caged generators, pouring thousands of volts of electricity into the machinery. The explosion that sounded off was the equivalent to a bomb being dropped at that exact spot. The generators overheated, sending too much electricity into the house, frying every circuit, and starting blazing fires in multiple spot in the house.

A dark figure hurried through the brush surrounding the house, his mission was clear; the Loire and Seagill boys. He found them in pathetic shape, both boys huddled together sharing their tears of anguish, and surrounded by smoke, and tongues of fire just daring them to come closer, and having the same cruel intentions that the dissipating storm seemed to have. He soon found that the thick glass door was locked, barring him from the doom of the young boys. He pounded on the glass door, calling out to his targets, but they only stared at him with fear openly apparent in their eyes. He finally stepped back, and drew the weapon he was famous for using.

It seemed to be a mid-sized broadsword, with a peculiar hilt. There was also a trigger that was a fully functional part of the weapon. With awesome speed, the dark stranger aimed and pulled the trigger, the thick glass cracking apart. He immediately followed through with a string swipe of the blade, and entered into what seemed to be an oven. His skin boiled, and the screams of the two boys gave the man an imagined feeling of what hell might be like. He quickly scooped the toddlers from the floor, and turned to see that his entrance was now blocked by the malicious orange flames. He turned, and fell backwards through the wall of flame, trying to shield his charges from further danger.

The coolness of the wet grass was such a welcome feeling to the three survivors, their soot soiled faces masking the true shade of white that their skin held. Squall knew he had lost his mother in the tragic event taking place before his eyes. "You boys were lucky I seen that lightning strike." The stranger said; matter of factly, while fitting glasses back onto his face.

"Who are you?" Zell asked, he hadn't realized the full extent of what had just happened. "and where's my daddy."

"Boys, now is a time to be strong, now I believe you'll be coming with me, there's nothing left for you here." the stranger took both boys by the hand, and led them to the nearby road. "Just call me cid, looks like I'll be your new caretaker." cid smiled first at Zell, then at Squall.

"Hi Cid, I'm Zell, where are we going?" Zell's hyperactiveness was starting to show from all the excitement. Squall kept silent when cid turned to him with the same question, he found himself staring into the stranger's eyes, trying to hold back tears that he didn't feel comfortable shedding without his mother's comforting arms around him.

"Zell, Squall," Cid turned to each boy. "You'll be safe at the Garden," He hadn't thought that maybe the young boys wouldn't know what he was talking about, leaving Zell and Squall to exchange puzzled faces. Squall turned to give one last look at his home, and all he had known until now. It was diminished to rubble in one violent act of fate, his life was his own now, he could live the way he wanted.

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Red sirens screamed to life, flashing crimson light in all directions, with a piercing sound that would wake the dead. Squall silently rose from his bed, immediately rushing to his gray uniform in his dorm closet. It seemed the Peltzer's from almost two decades ago were having the last laugh. They had planted thousands of animal producing pods into the earth. It was impossible to locate every one, but at least the monsters themselves could be taken care of.

Zell rushed into his room just as he was strapping his gunblade around his waist, and shoving large slugs into pouches on his belt. They silently exchanged glances, and exited into the plain white halls of the mobile military academy, which had been the only home they had known since young childhood. "Squall! Zell! The headmaster wants you on the main deck!" Xu, the commander's personal secretary caught up with the two men, just before the doors of the elevator clamped shut.

"What is it this time?" Zell sniffed in disgust, hoping that it wasn't an easy uprising.

"There are Behemoth's on the loose on the outskirts of Timber city, but that's all I know." Squall perked a little at the sound of behemoth's, something more than the T-Rexuar in the training center. The elevator came to a silent stop, one calm bing was the only indication that the elevator had stopped, and suddenly chaos killed the serenity. Zell and Squall gave a quick nod to Xu, and both parties split.

Headmaster Cid was studying a large map laid out over his large desk, red and blue markers scattered all through Galbadia and Timber. "Ah! Boys, just the two I wanted to see." Cid greeted them with a delighted smile, but instantly became serious. "There are several attacks on the cities still left on ground level, Grendal's are attacking Deling, and surrounding townships, and there have been startling reports of Behemoth's attacking Timber city." Cid slowly walked to the nearby wall, and pushed a switch. The room was instantly black, except for a projection on the wall to their right, showing detailed slides of both attacks. "There are already some teams in Deling, and I'm still assembling teams for Timber. I want both of you to go ahead of us, and at least get a stronghold in the city, we'll be following you shortly." Cid pursed his lips like he always did after finishing a business affair, and without seeming to do it, rushed both men from his office.

"You both have access to X-Mark 357's," Xu smiled, and handed each an access card to the hangar, and the vehicles they would be traveling in."Try to come back in one piece." She smiled, and turned back to her computer.

The sirens had stopped awhile back, but they only now noticed, as they entered the elevator once more. "Why do you think they always send us on these kind of missions?" Zell asked, somewhat angrily.

"Would you rather escort some kind of politician?" Squall countered, he especially disliked that part of his job.

"Well no, but they could at least send more cadets than just us." Zell rubbed the back of his head in thought, and suddenly the elevator doors burst open. "Come on, lets blow." Zell motioned for squall to follow. They both hurried through the heart of Balamb Garden, finally coming to the hangar.

"Do both of you have clearance this time?" The officer asked skeptically, checking the passes thoroughly.

"You bet! Those are strait from the headmaster's office." Zell answered enthusiastically.

"Hmm...that's what you said last time." The officer replied sourly. "Ok, looks like everything checks out, the cards are active, the X-Marks are just over there, and they have extra cell packs for if anything happens." The officer explained with more than one bored sigh, and they were hurrying to the ships.

"Wow Squall! Look at these, I bet they can go really fast!" The sleek shape of the small ships gave them the appearance of standard fighter ships. Both entered the two assigned, warmed the thrusters, checking for any problems with the engines, and soon they were two small dots to any that was standing idle in the busy hallways of Balamb Garden.

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Hey guys, sorry for taking so long, and the update being so short, I've been swamped, I hope you enjoy the chapter though, and I'll try to make the next chapter longer, thanks for reading!

IronicEnding: thanks for the review, I love hearing from people who like reading my work, hope you read and enjoy this chapter.


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